1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to vehicle mirror assemblies, and more particularly, to an exterior mirror assembly in which the mirror glass is releasably secured to the mirror head housing by a sliding glass clamp.
2) Description of Related Art
The mirror glass unit in a typical exterior vehicle mirror assembly includes a reflective mirror plate, which is fixed to a glass carrier plate to support the mirror glass in the mirror head. Adhesives are commonly used for securing the components together in a fixed arrangement. This requires precise manufacturing techniques to hold the mirror plate in the desired position while setting the adhesive and to protect the edge area of the mirror glass from damage. These techniques require comparatively low tolerances that must be observed with regard to the shape of the mirror glass which results in higher production costs. Additionally, there is the risk of excess adhesives spilling over onto the mirror glass and thus the mirror glass becoming contaminated when affixing the mirror plate to the glass carrier plate. This requires elaborate cleaning to remove the adhesive, which also leads to increased production costs.
Further, if the mirror glass is ever broken, the entire glass unit must be replaced. Replacing the glass unit can require a significant disassembly of the mirror head to be able to remove the carrier plate.
Accordingly, in view of the problems associated with mounting a mirror glass to a carrier plate, it is an object of the present invention to provide a mirror head for vehicle mirrors that does not require a carrier plate for the mirror glass.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a mirror head for a vehicle in which the mirror glass can be easily replaced if broken without a significant disassembly of the mirror head or the required replacement of additional support components.